Coyotes are considered one of the most successful predators in North America, with populations spreading from Alaska to Central America and eastward toward the Great Plains and the Northeast. Even despite hunting, human encroachment and competition with larger carnivores, medium-sized mammals appear to be doing well. New research suggests so human hunting practices could even be contributing to increasing numbers of coyotes. The findings are detailed in a study published Nov. 5 in the journal Ecography.
[Related: Culver City is home to a unique cat versus coyote conflict.]
Coyotes regularly come into contact with people in parks, trails and even on city streets. This can be a problem for pet owners and farmers, as coyotes have been known to go after them pets And cattle including dogs, cats, chickens, goats and sheep. The factors that influence coyote numbers in suburban, rural and wild landscapes have been unclear until now.
“Intensive coyote removal can obviously reduce populations in the short term, but removal can also result in younger coyote populations with higher reproduction and immigration rates,” study co-author and wildlife ecologist Remington Moll of the University of New Hampshire. said in a statement.
In the new study, The team started with images and video from more than 4,500 cameras deployed across the United States US Project Snapshot. The project collects wildlife data from a coordinated group of cameras across the contiguous US. The visual data was combined with satellite-derived habitat statistics.
The team then used several computer modeling techniques to evaluate the effects of coyote habitat type, competition with larger carnivores, hunting practices, and suburban expansion on coyote populations. Analyzing these variables gave researchers a clearer picture of how coyotes respond to different environmental pressures.
“Our work suggests that promoting the recovery of large carnivores, especially in certain habitats, is more likely to reduce coyote numbers than people hunting them directly,” study co-author and North Carolina State University zoologist Roland Kays. said in a statement. “With this data, we can now map them across the country, providing the first abundance map of our nation’s most important predator – an effort that could help with both conservation and coyote management.”
They also found that the presence of larger carnivores such as black bears and cougars affected coyote numbers in a habitat-dependent manner. There were fewer coyotes in wooded areas inhabited by black bears. Cougars had a similar effect, but in more open environments. Grasslands and agricultural areas had the highest abundance of coyotes and both regions provide them with prey and shelter. The impact of urbanization on coyote populations has varied. Bee smaller, local scaleurban development tended to reduce coyote numbers. This is largely because their habitats are being broken up and human presence is increasing. On a larger scale in the suburbs, coyote populations flourished. They appear instead to take advantage of the fragmented habitats and edges that give them access to natural and human-modified resources.
The research also revealed a number of significant ones regional variation in coyote populations. There were particularly high numbers in the southwestern US and lower populations in the northeast. The team believes this reflects the diverse environmental and geographic factors at play in these regions.
[Related: Eastern coyotes are increasingly common—here are 5 facts to know about them.]
“In our research, we discovered more coyotes in places where hunting was allowed,” Moll said. “This trend occurred over several years, indicating that hunting did not reduce coyote abundance on average and may have increased it locally in certain areas.”
Some other smaller species are also seeing both population increases and recoveries despite human encroachment. Slimy snails thrive in Los Angeles, California and seem to prefer city life. In parts of Brazil it is scorpions are flourishing thanks to increased urbanization and warming temperatures. The arachnids have become the deadly venomous animal in Brazil and have increased the demand for antivenom. Moreover, honeybees in Ethiopia do had a slow recovery after a two-year war.
Nature looks for a way.
